


We Run in Opposite Directions, and Yet I'm Chasing You

by HollowNightmare



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: And Of Course - Freeform, Gen, Introspection, Light Angst, Missing Scene, One Shot, Post-Slash, Pre-Slash, this is short but in my defense: i just got home from the cinema
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26165005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowNightmare/pseuds/HollowNightmare
Summary: Neil thinking about his and the protagonist's relationship while in the container. I couldn't help but notice the worry in Neil's eyes when the protagonist started losing blood from his arm and long story short: this happened.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 143





	We Run in Opposite Directions, and Yet I'm Chasing You

**Author's Note:**

> I understood like 70% of what was going on in Tenet but I did _not_ miss the way Neil speaks to and looks at the protagonist. *hands you the fic and runs*

This is not the first time Neil has been woken up by confused attempts at some kind of explanation. Tenet is not easy to comprehend; it'll take time. But he does wish he didn't have to be taken from blissful sleep every five minutes.

 _My friend, I am not at ease being the one with the answers. I rather preferred it when it was you._

Neil sighs. _He's a_ partner _, not a friend._

He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, and tries to explain (for what he believes to be the fourth time) that not all physics can be illustrated while in a container, and without a surface to write on. Especially if your student spends his time coming up with unreasonable theories instead of paying attention.

"Listen: I promise I'll explain it all, to the best of my abilities, once we're done with this." Neil says, yawning.

He's met with a sigh and a nod, which is already more than he hoped for. 

His ~~friend~~ partner is rubbing circles on his right arm, deep in thought, no doubt trying to make sense of his new reality.

Neil remembers what it was like — realizing he knew so _little_ about the world, the confusion that came with it, feeling lost. He also remembers how being found felt. _He doesn't have that_ , he thinks, and then amends: _Not yet_.

* * *

They're in the middle of an entertaining conversation about their chances of survival, and he's scratching absent-mindedly at his arm. Neil doesn't notice it right away, but when he does, he realizes that rather than merely _scratching_ , his ~~friend~~ partner has _been_ _scratching_. 

Which is not wrong, per se, but it is... odd.

"Is there a problem with your shirt?" he asks, because it would make sense.

"What? No. Why?"

Neil waves a hand. He doesn't want to talk about it. An itchy shirt or a rough blanket would make sense, but they aren't the only options. Neil doesn't particularly like the other options, because if they happened, they happened, and there is no way of changing their course _now_. He puts his head in his hands and takes a deep breath. Free will still seems like a joke to him, every now and then; and the more he thinks about it, the more he struggles to breathe. Or maybe that's the whole locked-in-a-container thing. Isn't he too old to develop some kind of claustrophobia?

"Everything all right?" 

Neil wants to laugh. _Of course not. We might die in a couple of days and you don't even know who I am. Or who_ you _are, for that matter._

He manages not to laugh. He doesn't raise his head, doesn't meet the pair of eyes watching him intently. He can't; it's too hard. 

* * *

They're almost there, and something is wrong, because his ~~friend~~ _partner_ is checking his arm and there is nothing there which means there will be.

"Something wrong with your arm?" Neil asks, because there's not much else he can do; and of course there's nothing wrong with it, not now.

They're all geared up and ready to go and his ~~friend~~ ~~_partner_~~ friend, his mentor, his _everything_ is bleeding and that needs to stop but it can't. Neil can't stop it because he can't fix what has yet to be broken, and even if he could — would he have the right to?

Would this man accept alien hands on his skin? Would Neil be able to bandage the wound without letting his fingertips linger?

 _It's not like he won't be back in one piece once he steps out of the machine, un-inverted_ , he considers, but that doesn't mean he no longer feels the need to stop his friend from hurting.

He grabs one end of the stretcher, and steps out onto the runway.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there it was! I loved Tenet so much. I cried when Neil died and I wasn't even sure it _was_ him... I Am a Mess. Also: how dare them pull a River Song on us.
> 
> Have a lovely day/evening/whatever!


End file.
